Stress is damaging to health, there is no question about that. But, stress as we know it today it dangerous to our bodies. Professor Robert Sapolsk, of Stanford University conducted a study on baboon troops on the plains of Africa to understand how deadly stress can be in the animal world. He found that stress is not only a state of mind; it’s quantifiable, and measurable. Stress shrinks our brains, adds fat to our bellies, unravels our chromosomes and damages our mood. Baboons with high level of stress had high blood pressure, were more on guard and had clogged arteries – these baboons were also the baboons that had a higher chance of dying.
Chronic stress affects memory: according to their study, mice who had high level stress had the part of their brain that controls memory shrink (hippocampus).
The area that you live in also affects your stress levels. People who live in neighborhoods that are poorer and more prone to crime have higher stress levels because they are always on guard and watch, they are more nervous and elevated levels of stress as a result. Overtime, this builds up and is damaging to individuals. Those who live in more affluent neighborhoods, do not have this constant fear, and are thus less stressed.
There is an incredible link between stress and how you put on weight. The distribution of weight, around your waistline, is linked to chronic stress. This is also true for animals, subordinate monkeys with high levels of stress deposited stress around their middle and abdomen. The fat people and monkeys carry around their waistline is the most deadliest – fat brought on by stress is dangerous because it behaves differently and produces different chemicals.
They also found that stress can affect us even BEFORE we are aware. Holland, 1944 – The Dutch Hunger Winter, was a time when Occupation Forces starved the people, there was very little to eat. To study how hunger, a stressor affected the fetuses of pregnant mothers at the time, researchers looked at the children today. What did they discover? Those born during the famine were exposed to stress in fetal life, and are still suffering the consequences 60 years later. Many of these children live today, and are in their 60s. They found that these people have poorer health than those born before or after the after: they have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, more cholesterol, more stressed. Some of them reported that they are quick to anger and are less flexible with situations. The stress hormones in a mother’s blood affected their children, and lasted throughout their child’s life.
Stress is deadly, and its effects are long-lasting if we do not manage them.
Stay tuned next week for stress reduction tips and exercises.
Until then, don’t stress!
Source: National Geographic Video, Stress: The Portrait of a Killer
Tags: Health & Beauty
